General Authorities and General Officers

Elder Mervyn B. Arnold

Elder Mervyn Bennion Arnold was named a member of the First Quorum of Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 4, 2009, after serving in the Second Quorum of the Seventy since April 5, 2003. He is a former president of the Costa Rica San José Mission, counselor in a stake presidency, stake high councilor, bishop, elders quorum president, and full-time missionary in the Northern Mexico Mission.

He is currently serving as Area President in the South America South Area in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He previously served as an Assistant Executive Director in Salt Lake City, in the Temple Department, and also on the Boundary and Leadership Change Committee. He has served as the President of the Brazil South Area and as a counselor in the Brazil North and Brazil South Areas.

Before his call as a General Authority, Elder Arnold earned a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in public administration from Brigham Young University. He founded and co-owned a building and development company. Later he expanded and was a co-founder of Guardian State Bank. After he retired, he became director of Training and Field Services in the Missionary Department of the Church, where he was working when called as a General Authority.

Elder Arnold was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He and his wife, Devonna Kress Arnold, have six children and twenty grandchildren.